My glider never came down and flew away. What is wrong?
If it went in a straight line, you need to re-trim the glider to circle as it glides. Perhaps your field was too small. Find a larger place to fly. If neither of these is the case, you probably just found a thermal. Air is not static. It moves around due to uneven heating and cooling. A hawk circling overhead, without flapping its wings is in a thermal. When air is heated, it rises. When air is cooled, it sinks. Whatever is in that air goes up or down with it, be it bird, balloon, rocket, or airplane. If the air is rising faster than the sink rate of your model, the model will rise in the air. In general, this is good, as it allows your model to fly much longer. It stops being good when you lose the model! This is a “good” problem. It means you’ve solved most of the problems you’ve encountered, and have (had?) a pretty good glider. Picking thermals is an art that is beyond this FAQ (but we’ll try anyway, shortly). Now we have to find a way to get the glider back. These devices are call
